95. Shot Selection - Open table practice 

When it comes to snooker, being Barry Stark is plenty good enough for me.

interesting enough, Ronnie himself said he always plays for areas and few posibilities instead of going for 1 ball

All pro's play the margin of error to leave more options rather single out one Red or colour.

Daren. Don't think Ronnie has anything to worry about from me, Kyren possibly.

zain. Glad you like them.

Mistaken. Keep giving yourself those options and hopefully the screw ups will become less and less. Good luck.

Phil. Many thanks, gad you like the videos.

Claranjeopardy. Great, lets hope those fifties become centuries in the near future.

john. Glad you like it.

Tech. Great that you are taking the game up again, I hope the videos help with your progress.

Spud. My pleasure, we will try to keep them coming.

Fisher. My pleasure and thank you.

Electric. Mind and body work together, good luck with the progress.

Bob. Glad to be of help.

Mark. There is a lot of merit in what you have said, please bear in mind though that it is also important to learn from your mistakes.

Juha. It gets harder the older I get, but try to remember power creates errors, try to stoke the ball when you can.

Shehryar. Thank you very much.

Andrew Mowat I counted 116 but I may be mistaken. Even in an open table practice like this where everything goes, I would be very proud of it

I think the break ended after the blue at 14:10, because the video cuts and the white seems to have moved a couple of inches down the table. Still, being 31 of age I'd like to play as good as him

@@andrevanderkant6616 i noticed that aswell, if he moved the ball for that shot it makes me think he done it on other shots, because he didnt even need to move it on that shot, weird

@@andrevanderkant6616 no it's just a camera illusion he didnt move anything

@@andrevanderkant6616 lmao nothing moved dude

spr624. Thanks for that, I will keep trying while there is an interest.

good idea

apointlessbird. Sounds good, I will give it some thought.

Wow cant wait to see that good idea

5 months later ^^ :p :p

Agreed this would be a good watch. I hope it gets picked up on...

Malcolm. My pleasure, glad you like it.

Joe. Thanks for that glad you like the videos.

crosdad. Glad you like it.

Zeeshan. Glad you like them.

Wayne. Thanks for the compliments, its great that your game is improving all the time. Your tip of keeping the head still applies to several sporting activities and is particularly relevant to snooker players, well voiced.

Tim. You are so right, snooker is a simple game, it is we amateur players that make it complicated. The top boys are so good at making difficult elements of the game so very simple, anybody who is good at anything make it look so very easy.

The major difference is most Amateurs have not mastered the fundamentals of the game - the basics, just like Golf, grip, stance & posture. Every shot in snooker is basically the same technique, just rinse & repeat. I play at Whitley Bay Snooker Centre (Now North East Snooker Centre) , I play in two leagues. Every Saturday there is a Pro Am, Gary Wilson & Elliott Slessor and more recently David Lilly play in these, its handicapped and great fun, amazing experience too. This has spurred me on to more solo practice, that has improved my general game including match play. I now often hit 50-60 breaks. With COVID-19, it’ll take a bit of time getting back up to speed on the table, can’t wait . Always looking to improve my game . Keep up the great videos!

Glad you like them!

Phill. It gets harder as I get older. Many thanks.

George. Glad you like the videos, I sincerely hope they help your game to develop.

Yes Mr Stark, your videos really help me a lot!!! it was only after watching you, that I realized what snooker is all about and how it should be played. All thanks to you sir!!!!

Tom. The balls were in the open and in potable positions which made it easier, the main purpose of the video was to show the thinking behind each shot. Many thanks for your gratitude.

@@BarryStarkSnookerCoach no worries Barry. In my own game I don't put enough thought into the consideration of the exact shot I'm playing, I will aim to improve on this in the future. Cheers ☺

Russell. Many thanks, glad you like it.

Glad it helped

AShley. Congratulations on your first century, it is always a great achievement. Cue ball control is the answer, the further the ball travels generally the less accurate you are going to be, keep it tight and your breaks will flourish. Well done.

Paul. My pleasure, hopefully your breaks will continue to improve. Good luck.

Glad it was helpful!

51Dss. Its a great practise to get you started before you do more specific practises related to your strengths and weaknesses.

yk. My pleasure, glad you like the videos.

Daren. Please give my regards to Leo, I will look out for him on table 5 when I come over.

Steven. Great to hear from your part of the world again, I hope you continue to enjoy the channel.

Steven. That's nice to know, I hope I can continue with the trend.

Satyajeetsinh. 72 is a good break by any ones standard, well done.

Ian. Glad you like the video.

Hi Barry, may i ask you something? I've been player snooker for years now, and i've always loved the game, beautiful game! I stopped playing for about 12 years. I now been back playing for 6 maybe 7 years. Back in 2012 and 2013, i had an 82 break and a 76 break, i've had many 30 & 40 breaks, and a 65 last week. But can't seem to break into the real big big breaks! But im playing snooker now than i did before i gave up for 12 years. Barry, i know you coach the great Kyren Wilson, nice lad and a great player, but please could you give me some tips, on my lack of big chucky breaks? Best wishes to you Barry! Ian 😀

I miss an odd word, hear and there, forgive my spelling. Thanks!

Old. All the balls where in the open so there was not any real complications but the object was to show what can be achieved just playing centre ball striking.

Lafaele. Many thanks, glad you like the videos.

Brian. My pleasure, glad you like the video.

James. I like both ideas of, Playing the shot again, and, Noting the element that caused the miss. Be determined to work on the element that caused the miss later on, but play the shot again to complete the exercise.

Brian. Glad the videos are helping your game.

Aaron I'm just wondering have you done much looking into the mechanics of snooker? I'd be interested to know

dnbmania Mechanically speaking you would like to have a rock solid base from your lower limbs to keep your spine and torso as resistant to any movement as possible (strong core muscles, abdominals, erector spinae). This should give the shoulder girdle a better chance to guide the cue through straight, with the least moving parts possible. I think you see this mechanical style prominently in the Chinese players especially the younger ones like Cao Yupeng and even Ding to an extent who have very compact cue actions. But we see Ronnie playing with so much flamboyance and hitting the balls better than anyone so who knows really. I would say you have to find somewhere between being technically "correct" and being comfortable in the way that you cue.

I find it such an interesting topic how we're trying to move a stick in a straight line. I've done a small amount of looking into cue mechanics and there's been certain things that have really interested me. I think elbow position above the ball and also the eye dominance/cue position have been really interesting topics. I noticed how a lot of players considered to be brilliant potters have a 'opposite' hand/eye dominance (e.g. Judd is leftie with cue under right eye). A few other players are Robertson, Williams. I can theorise it's down to the inverted 'v' shape that the chest and side of the chin make but I could never tell for sure

Aaron. As a former PE instructor I have obviously studied anatomy and physiology and on an individual level have helped some players to overcome specific weaknesses with certain exercises. I like your final sentence which for me sums it all up, correct yet comfortable. What I am particularly concerned about is the lack of knowledge regarding the repetitive strain that snooker places on young bodies particularly during their anatomically formative years.

Zeeshan. My pleasure.

Old. Its a habit of mine, I am always talking to myself during a break. Things like, stay calm, not too hard, relax, make sure you leave an angle, etc.

Nate. Thank you, An open table is not too difficult once you get that cue action something like. Keep working at it and good luck.

Romac. Some players like to use side particularly on angle shots, others prefer plain ball striking. Beginners should concentrate more on plain ball striking the use of side and its intricacies will develop over time, don't try to rush it because it can cause other problems like cueing across the ball.

Abhishek. We are human, we don't wake up and feel the same every day, we all have our off days. Just keep doing the right things, don't try and force the issue but keep stroking those little balls and play yourself into form.

Tilmann. I tried to play the shots plain ball, but sometimes I might apply a little side subconsciously, it seems to be something I do instinctively on some shots.

Brad. It is certainly one of the biggest things, professionals will go about building a break differently but when you really have a good look they tend to play to an area when they can rather than playing on a specific ball. They are not afraid to change their mind either, they may for example want to play for the blue, but would rather play into the area between the blue and the baulk colours instead of running the risk of landing the wrong side of the blue.

kamran. To do this I need a high speed camera, They cost an awful lot of money and I am trying to hire one to show various things.

Asif. There is often too much emphasis placed upon the stance, providing it conforms to the basics, you are comfortable and stable I wouldn't worry about it too much. Concentrate more on your cueing, that is where progress will come.

Barry Stark Snooker Coach okay Sir thank you very much.

mezman. You have to choose between an Ash cue or Maple, whichever you like best. I would go for a 3/4 jointed cue, they are easier to transport around and play just as good as a one piece cue. The cue should be around 58 inches long and weigh around 18 ounces with a tip size of between 9mm and 10mm. No varnish on the shaft, I hate the stuff. Like everything else, you get what you pay for but there is no need to pay a fortune by having one made, just go to the supplier and choose a nice one from the selection on show. If you have any doubt take a friend with you who has a little more experience that you, but generally if it feels right it is right.

Barry Stark Snooker Coach thank you for the advice and please keep up the great videos as they are second to none and have improved my game greatly I can’t thank you enough.

vintage. There are so many routines and individual shot practises that will benefit a player that I hardly know where to start, but these should help. 1/ Colours on spots, one red near the black, pot red and black then clear colours. 2/ Pot black then pink then black then pink, black in corner pocket, pink in middle pocket, set target of say 5 each. 3/ Pot blue from spot sending cue ball between baulk colours, vary the path of the cue ball, i.e. between yellow and brown then green and brown etc,set yourself a target. 4/ Black on spot, cue ball in position high from it, pot black, white to rebound from top cushion and cannon balls positioned around that end of the table. There are plenty of routines on the channel. Good luck.

Thanks very much Barry I will give those a go with the other exercises on the channel :) thank you! I think one problem I have is cue delivery...making sure I’m straight on the shot and getting through the ball, plenty to go at on my next visit to the club.

Crumbs. Try cueing along the baulk line without the cue brushing against the chest working at keeping the cue moving in a straight line. Do long, slow cue actions without hitting any balls while doing this, it will groove the muscles into correct action. Then when the cue rests against the chest to play shots it should become a lot easier.

vzsombor95. You were right, he does not get the free ball, he has to try to hit the ball he is snookered on.

Eric. You use the term, most pros, that is because generally speaking when a player adopts something like a conventional snooker position the cueing arm tends to fall naturally into this position. However we are all different, so many things affect this, from the structure of an individuals joints, the range of movement within those joints right down to the type of employment we do and even how we sit for prolonged periods. Now obviously remedial exercise can assist in correcting bad habits or structural deficiencies and occasionally they are necessary but not always. As long as you cue in a straight line, are comfortable with how you stand and are on line what does it matter. The wrist is the key factor in circumstances like this in that it is a multi functional joint able to move in many directions, it certainly needs to be controlled and work in harmony with the elbow joint but this is explained in my video on the grip. please have a look, and don't worry about conforming to text book positions.

Barry Stark Snooker Coach Thank you very much, M. Stark. I'll wait a while to give myself the chance to evaluate if it's really broken before I try to fix it. ;-)

Nirmal. I will try to explain this on video as soon as time and opportunity permits.

Thank you so much for your coaching lot help me my game is lot improve thank you sir

Orrin. It is said that Walter Lindrum, the worlds greatest billiard player had a tremendously strong back because of the hours he spent on a billiard table. I do have a concern about the neck more than the back though, playing snooker requires adopting an unusual position and can result in repetitive strain. In fact a lot of snooker players do experience pain or at least discomfort in the cervical area. That is why I believe players should warm up and cool down properly paying particular attention to the neck area.

Barry Stark Snooker Coach - Interesting, thanks for that insight Barry! Loved Walter Lindrum, I'm an Australian as well. Whatever you do, keep posting videos. We all love them! 👍

@David. You will certainly have to get used to the size because the distances involved will emphasize any cueing flaws you may have. However, provided the balls and the pockets are the same size there is still a lot of benefit to be made from playing on it.

shafiq. It is normal for a tip to become slightly misshapen over a period of time because a player correctly uses his cue the same way around all the time. However, for this to become the problem that you are encountering is not quite normal and it makes me wonder if you are using a soft tip, cueing wrongly, chalking the cue incorrectly, using too much side, any one of these or indeed all of them. Try clamping the tips for a brief period before you put them on, this will firm the tip up and make it more consistent throughout its playing life.

Leigh. Pleased to hear it. Well done.

Daniel. If your cue is 9mm and your tip is 9.5mm and you don't trim it to the same size as your cue it is likely that the tip will lose its shape because of the overhang. 95mm is in my opinion a good tip size for snooker and if the cue is the same size all you can do is trim the tip and re-shape it.

Got it. Some players have overhang tips does that means they need to keep maintaining the shape?

Neeraj. I don't play pool so I cannot really answer your question with 100% certainty but snooker balls are smaller and lighter so it may be easier to screw back but because pool balls are heavier it may be that it is easier to apply top spin to them.

Nirmal. All top players, with few exceptions use the chest to support the cue during the shot. From there some keep the elbow high while others drop the elbow. To facilitate the latter some change the formation of the grip on the follow through,( take a look at Stephen Lee giving a lesson on RU-vid) others allow the hand to relax more without major changes to the grips formation, this in turn allows the hand to ease into the chest more increasing the follow through.

Thank you so much Sir your advice always help me lot

Mark. In conventional snooker there is no occasion where the cue ball can be placed anywhere on the table, with the cue ball in hand it is placed in the "D." -- If you are aiming at a red and hit the red it does not matter if the cue ball then hits a colour.-- If that colour is potted in the same stroke then that is a foul. Also if you are aiming at a colour but pot a red then that is also a foul.

Steve. The object ball will definitely be kicked off its natural line, how much obviously depends upon the amount of side that has been applied to the cue ball. As for the argument about side being transferred, friction demands that the object ball will momentarily rotate laterally but will almost instantly dissipate and will certainly be of no advantage whatsoever.